The Birmingham Times
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday kicked off its 2025-2029 term by electing Councilor Wardine Alexander as President and Councilor LaTonya Tate as President Pro Tem.
Alexander, of District 7, said she will focus on forming cohesive messaging around projects that impact all nine districts.
“We want to work with the mayor and with our neighborhood leaders to continue moving in the right direction on issues that impact the quality of life for our residents,” Alexander said. “This includes workforce development, neighborhood revitalization, sidewalk and infrastructure projects and cracking down on the issue of illegal dumping in residential areas.”
The newly elected president is a Birmingham native and product of the Birmingham City Schools, where she graduated from Wenonah High School.
Alexander represented District 7 on the Board of Education for Birmingham City Schools from 2013-2017, serving two terms as Board President. She was appointed to the Birmingham City Council on October 30, 2018 to represent District 7 and has been re-elected twice.
Tate, of District 9, has served the last four years as Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee. After Tuesday’s vote, she said “It is an honor to be able to represent my constituents and to step into this leadership role on the Council. I’ll be working with my colleagues on continuing to improve public safety, and develop holistic violence intervention strategies, especially among our young people.”
Tate, who grew up in North Birmingham, where she currently resides, was educated in the Birmingham Public School System. She attended MacArthur Elementary and graduated from John Herbert Phillips High School. Tate is founder of the Alabama Justice Initiative, a nonprofit social justice organization that works on criminal justice reform and policy initiatives.
Also on Tuesday, three new Council members were sworn in: Josh Vasa, district 3; Brian Gunn, district 4; and Sonja Smith, district 8. They joined Clinton Woods in district 1; Hunter Williams in district 2; Darrell O’Quinn in district 5; Crystal Smitherman in district 6; Alexander; and Tate.
